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Catholic schools look to update management model
With Catholic schools closing all over the country in recent years the Worcester County Diocese is tapping the community's business leaders to share their financial acumen and apply it to the nonprofit sphere.
Last year, the diocese formed the nonprofit St. Paul Catholic School Consortium, with a board led by Aubuchon Hardware President M. Marcus Moran Jr. that includes many local business and education leaders.
"It reads like a who's who in the North County," said Ann Racine, who is helping to raise funds for the consortium, which will benefit six elementary schools in Fitchburg, Gardner and Leominster.
Heavenly acumen
"The intent really was to empower the laity and to bring in their expertise because one of the goals we have, of course, is to continuously improve our financial and business management," said Stephen Perla, superintendent of Catholic schools for the diocese.
Moran said the board offers a chance for business people, educators and religious leaders to work together. He said private-sector leaders tend to have special expertise in fundraising and keeping track of finances.
"It's very important that we establish a budget and stick with a budget," he said.
Through the consortium, the schools will raise money for scholarships, train teachers and run extracurricular programs - and eventually make major administrative and financial decisions - together.
Perla said the pastors and parish members of all six schools have embraced these types of joint initiatives, but he said joining the schools' financial and administrative functions has met with more resistance. In fact, he said, the diocese has decided to move the consortium forward more slowly than it had originally planned.
"We had hoped, quite frankly, to be able to do the shift a little sooner," he said, "But clearly they're not ready to do that. Our feeling is we have to move on the areas where we have support."
Moran said he expects more parish and school leaders will come to support the consortium concept over time.
"Any time there's change there are the instant believers and there are those that want to go a little more slowly," he said. "It's not a buy-in by everybody right away. That's human nature."
The next step for the consortium is the kickoff of a capital campaign on Nov. 8. The group's goal is to raise $1 million mainly for tuition assistance.
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